United States presidential approval rating

Approval ratings of President Barack Obama by state in 2015—approval of President Obama was highest in Hawaii (at 58 percent) and lowest in West Virginia (at 24 percent)

>50%

40–49%

30–39%

<30%

In the United States, presidential job approval ratings were introduced by George Gallup in the late 1920s (most likely 1927) to gauge public support for the President of the United States during his term. An approval rating is a percentage determined by a polling which indicates the percentage of respondents to an opinion poll who approve of a particular person or program. Typically, an approval rating is given to a politician based on responses to a poll in which a sample of people are asked whether they approve or disapprove of that particular political figure. A typical question might ask:

Do you approve or disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president?[1]

Like most surveys that predict public opinion, the approval rating is subjective. Many unscientific approval rating systems exist that skew popular opinion. However, the approval rating is generally accepted as a statistically valid indicator of the comparative changes in the popular United States mood regarding a President.

In contemporary politics, presidential job approval is highly partisan. Barack Obama in his last year as sitting president achieved a job approval of 70 to 90 among Democrats and 10 to 15 among Republicans.[2], while President Donald Trump in 2018 has a job approval of 80 to 90 among Republicans and 5 to 10 among Democrats.[1] Gallup polling has found that 46% of Americans are either "Democrats or Democratic leaners" while 39% are either "Republicans or Republican leaners".[3] However, this fact does not diminish the significance of the overall approval rating.[original research?]